Hooded broadcast sprayer for particle drift reduction

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Engineering
• Environmental Science
• Agronomy

Background:

• Growing interest in spray hoods to minimize pesticide off-target movement.
• Low historical adoption rates of spray hood technology by farmers and applicators.
• Need to evaluate effectiveness for modern herbicide applications in dicamba/2,4-D tolerant crops.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the efficacy of spray hoods in reducing pesticide spray drift.
• To compare drift reduction with different nozzle types and drift-reducing adjuvants (DRAs).

Main Methods:

• Evaluated spray drift potential of hooded versus conventional open sprayers.
• Utilized nozzles common for herbicide applications in row crops.
• Measured drift using area under the drift curve and droplet size analysis (D_V50).

Main Results:

• Hooded applications significantly decreased spray drift across all tested scenarios.
• Hooded applications with AIXR nozzles showed comparable drift reduction to conventional sprayers with drift-reducing adjuvants (DRAs).
• Significant differences in droplet size (D_V50) did not negate the drift reduction benefits of hoods.

Conclusions:

• Spray hoods, when combined with proper nozzle selection and DRAs, substantially reduce pesticide drift potential.
• This technology serves as a valuable complement to existing drift-reduction strategies.
• Adoption of spray hoods can enhance the safety and environmental profile of pesticide applications.